Joel and Ethan Coen have made it pretty clear that they have no intention of making a Big Lebowski sequel, but John Turturro is still hoping for that Big Lebowski spinoff. The actor recently reiterated his desire to make a Jesus Quintana film, although it doesn’t seem like it’s happening just yet.

He may have better luck with the Barton Fink sequel, which he also wants to do — because the Coens are actually interested in that one. Hit the jump for Turturro’s latest updates on the Big Lebowski spinoff and the Barton Fink sequel.

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This BBC doc on Joel and Ethan Coen is hardly new — it was created in 2000, during the production of O Brother, Where Art Thou?. But seeing the brothers in action is rare enough that even a 13-year old behind the scenes look is going to count as new for many people. There’s even some interview footage with cinematographer Roger Deakins, who almost as reclusive as the Coens.

The films of Joel and Ethan Coen are so fully formed, and so specific to a recognizable point of view, that viewers seem to want an explanation for the origin of that sensibility. It’s a fool’s errand to some extent; explaining anyone’s artistic work tends to be, and the Coens are more reluctant than most to discuss “reasons.” The ready affability of the brothers in this interview even mocks any attempt to paint them as weird, aloof geniuses. And given that the doc opens with some explicitly outlandish myth-making, it’s worth keeping in mind that there could well be some low-level mythologizing going on throughout. But the Coens’ work is so good that such legend-building is pretty natural.

There’s great stuff here, notably the contradiction between what seems to be a very easygoing shoot, and the rigorously structured production that allows it to be that way. Then, of course, there’s the communication between the brothers, which is so ingrained that it barely even looks like communication at all. And the idea that Fargo was shot just because it was the cheapest script they happened to have laying around at the time is the sort of thing that will make some other filmmakers bang their heads on a table in frustration.

Let’s get one thing straight: John Turturro is a treasure of an actor. (I don’t think that needs clarifying, but still.) While he has a broad and impressive resume both in front of and behind the camera (I don’t care what people say; I kinda love Romance and Cigarettes) it is his work with Joel and Ethan Coen that will likely be his most well-known down the trail into the future.

Speaking to the AV Club in yet another one of the site’s wonderful Random Roles interviews, Mr. Turturro talked about making his own films and working with Spike Lee and the Coens, among other things. In doing so he reiterated the idea of a spin-off from The Big Lebowski and a sequel to Barton Fink. Both are ideas that have been mentioned over the years, and neither is really likely to be made. But they’re still fun to think about. Read More »